AUTHORITIES CRACK DOWN ON TWO POT CLUBS

In the latest battle over the medical marijuana initiative, authorities are
trying to snuff out two Southern California pot clubs they contend are
operating illegally.

The leader of an Orange County medical marijuana club was charged on
Thursday with eight felony counts of marijuana sales and conspiracy for
providing the drug to seriously ill patients.

Marvin Chavez, who runs the Orange County Cannabis Co-Op, said he accepts
donations in return for providing marijuana. The 43-year-old was arrested
on Wednesday night when county district attorney's investigators raided his
home.

Also on Thursday, Thousand Oaks Mayor Mike Markey and City Councilman Andy
Fox asked federal prosecutors to investigate the Ventura County Medical
Cannabis Center.

``Since our society has spent considerable time and effort to teach our
children to `Just Say No' to these drugs, we fear the impact these
unregulated facilities will have on our local children,'' the officials
said in a letter to Nora Manella, the U.S. attorney for Southern California.

Fox said the idea was sparked by action taken last week in Northern
California by the U.S. Justice Department, which sued six marijuana buyers
clubs. The department claimed that the clubs violated federal laws against
possession, cultivation and distribution of marijuana.

Andrea Nagy, 28, owner of the Ventura County Medical Cannabis Center, said
she welcomes the legal challenge and the opportunity to argue the law in
court before a jury.

``I think this issue needs to be debated so it can be resolved. I think any
12 reasonable people would understand the facts instead of the myths and
fiction,'' said Nagy, a paralegal who suffers chronic migraines and has a
doctor's prescription for marijuana.

The 1996 ballot measure, called Proposition 215, changed state law to allow
patients suffering from cancer, AIDS, glaucoma and a variety of other
illnesses to possess and grow marijuana for medical use, with a doctor's
recommendation. But the Clinton administration has resisted the initiative.

Last month, the state's 1st District Court of Appeal ruled that marijuana
clubs are commercial enterprises and cannot sell the drug legally to
patients despite the initiative. The measure only allows for the use of the
drug, not its sale, the court ruled.

``I don't know why they're being so hard-core on this,'' said Deputy Public
Defender Sharon Petrosino, who is defending a colleague of Chavez's on
marijuana charges. ``Everyone they were distributing to was a person dying
of an illness. It seems to lack compassion.''